I Was Under The Impression
by Vanex
Summary: Kushina Namikaze; her husband, Minato; her son, Arashi; and her twin daughters, Mito and Motoko, return home from a family vacation to find they had forgotten to bring Naruto with them. But, is this the first time that's happened? Naruto gives his family a dose of reality, along with a surprise decision about his future. Warning: Namikaze Family Bashing. One-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Vanex: _Hello all! I'm BAAAAAACK! I know I've been gone for quite some time. Life has been very busy for me lately. (Having a growing backlog of anime, games, and books doesn't help either. Having to move to a new house, AGAIN, also doesn't help matters. I'm not kidding. I will be moving again within the next few months, so there will be another limbo in which I'm gone.) But, I am still alive, as you can see. I just haven't had as much time to focus on my fanfics as I did in the past. I've also looked back at the person I was when I first came onto this site and the writing I did back then. I did not like what I saw. The writing was atrocious and the stories were rushed. _**

_**As such, I'm going to renew myself, in a sense. Some of my older stories will be rewritten, while others will be discontinued, or put on hiatus to either lighten the load or give me time to straighten them out. I've decided to reduce the number of stories I'll be actively working on to three, so there will be a poll for you to decide which three stories I will work on first. The stories I've marked as safe will be the ones to choose from, along with a couple of the rewrite stories, and some new stories. Here is the current status of my stories:**_

_**The Ninja that Wields the Keyblade Arc 1 – Rewrite, but may discontinue if I find that I can't salvage it.**_

_**Appearances Can Be Deceiving – Discontinued.**_

_**The Beginning of the Maelstrom – Discontinued.**_

_**The Uzumaki Otokage – Discontinued, but may do an Evil Naruto x Evil Kushina story in the future.**_

_**The Rise to Greatness – Rewrite, but with the original challenge dropped. The rewrite will be known as Rise of the Forgotten Ninja.**_

_**The King of Rouran – Hiatus.**_

_**Naruto Uzumaki, A Persona User – Hiatus, with a possible rewrite planned in the future.**_

_**The Origins of Revan – Safe.**_

_**Rise of Uzushiogakure – Hiatus, debating between rewrite and discontinuation.**_

_**The Uzumaki Hokage – Discontinued. However, there will be one final author's note that says something I've been wanting to say for some time, regarding that story. Something that needs to be said.**_

_**Overlord Uzumaki – Safe.**_

_**The Wandering Maelstrom – Rewrite. I'm changing the love interest, but keeping the OC and the story I had planned for her. All I have to do is tweak the ending of her story. As for who the new love interest is, well, I'm not telling. Also, I'm changing the entire beginning.**_

_**Naruto: The King of Uzushiogakure – Discontinued.**_

_**Harry Potter and the Snow White Queen – Safe.**_

_**Final Note: There may be a fourth active story. I had plans for a particular story to be in one of the three slots, but I still need a writer's permission to make that story. However, if I do get that permission soon, then I will be working on four stories instead of three.**_

_**Now, with that out of the way, let's get to this story. You know the stories in which Naruto gets neglected by his parents, due to parental favoritism of the other child/children and thus Naruto decides to sever that weakened bond. Well, here's one way to do it.**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any profit on this, whatsoever.**

"Normal Talking"

*Scene Change*

**I was Under the Impression**

Kushina smiles as she; her husband, Minato; her oldest son, Arashi; and her twin daughters, Mito and Motoko, approach their home. The family is on their way back from their annual family vacation. This year, they had went to a beach town on the edge of Hi no Kuni. It had been a blast, with stuff from Mito and Motoko burying Arashi in the sand while he was asleep, to Minato getting distracted while he was water walking, and thus getting knocked over by a wave.

As they walk through the village, people wave to them, or nod their head in respect. After all, not only is Minato famous for being the Yellow Flash, but he is also the Fourth Hokage. Then, there's Arashi, the popular child who people proclaim will be the next Yellow Flash. And, of course, there's the twins. The heroes of Konoha that contain the two halves of the Kyūbi.

Now, normally, one would think that a Kage wouldn't leave their village. However, such a thing happens all the time in the villages. In this case, the Kage would select someone to take care of things while they were gone. In this case, Tsunade Senju, one of the Legendary Sannin, is the substitute, ever since the previous Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, gave his life when he split the Kyūbi in two and sealed the two halves into the twins.

The family of five walk up to their house and stop. For sitting on a chair outside the front door, reading a book, is the final member of the Namikaze family. It's the middle child, Naruto. He looks up at them. "Welcome back. How was the vacation?"

Kushina and the others give a look of confusion to each other. "Naruto," asks Kushina, "were you here the whole time?"

Naruto looks back at his book. "Of course I was. It doesn't surprise me, though. You leave me behind on every vacation, so I didn't expect things to be different this year. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm sitting outside because it's a beautiful day out and I wanted to enjoy the good weather."

Minato is the next one with a question. "What do you mean we leave you behind? We always take you with us."

Naruto looks up at him. "Oh, really? Well then, can you remember something I did on any of those vacations I supposedly went on?"

Minato goes silent. Not only is he unable to come up with anything, but neither Kushina, nor the kids are able to come up anything as well.

Naruto nods at the silence. "That's what I thought. I have people who can testify that I didn't go with you every time you guys went on vacation. In fact, the head librarian, at the library, can tell you that I checked out this book yesterday. It's a really good story about a hero, who was neglected by his family as a child, that went on to save the world from a great evil. I recommend that you all read it. I'm just about done reading it."

He goes back to his book. Minato, Kushina, and the kids just stand there awkwardly, as they look at the member of the family they had all completely forgotten about. Naruto notices that they're just staring at him, so he puts down the book and sighs. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you say anything to us?" asks Kushina.

"In the earlier years, I tried to say something, but you all would just shoo me away. Thus, in the later years, I was under the impression that I wasn't welcome on these vacations, so I don't bother anymore. Is there anything else, or can I go back to my book? I really want to know how this story ends."

Minato is in disbelief. "That's ridiculous! Of course you're welcome on these vacations! We're a family! Besides, we would always hold a family meeting to plan the vacations! So, why didn't you say anything then?"

Naruto raises an eyebrow. "Family meetings? What family meetings?"

"The meetings in which I call everyone to the living room so that we can talk about family related matters, like vacations."

A look of realization comes over Naruto. "Oh, so those must have been those times you would call everyone except me. I was under the impression that I wasn't needed for whatever it was, so I wouldn't bother coming." He picks up the book again and starts reading.

The rest of the family goes silent as they realize that Naruto is right about the meetings. None of them can remember him being in those meetings and both Minato and Kushina can't recall every calling him.

They're jolted out of their thoughts when Naruto suddenly snaps the book shut. "Finished! I gotta admit, the ending is awesome." He stands up and stretches. "Now I just got to return this book to the library."

Naruto walks off, heading for the library. The rest of the Namikaze family look at each other. Minato nods. "Emergency family meeting."

*A few minutes later, in the Namikaze household...*

The five Namikaze family members are sitting in the living room in their house. Minato clears his throat. "Okay, the situation is that Naruto feels like he isn't part of the family. We need to bring him back into the fold."

"One thing's for sure, we need to remember to take him on the vacations," says Mito.

Arashi nods. "We need to remember him, period. When was the last time any of us really interacted with him? I was close to him when we were younger, but that changed when I entered the academy. I didn't have as much time for him, as I had to focus on becoming a ninja."

Minato sighs. "With me, it's obvious. Being Hokage didn't give me time to spend with him."

Kushina is the next one to say something. "I spent my time helping the twins with controlling the Kyūbi's power."

"We were busy spending time with our friends," says Motoko, with Mito nodding in agreement.

"Really? That's the best excuses you all can come up with?"

All of them turn in alarm to see Naruto standing there with his arms crossed. Kushina is the one to address him. "Naruto, I thought you were returning that book to the library."

"I have a shadow clone doing that. I wanted to see what you five were up to that doesn't involve me. I must say, I'm now under the impression that none of you want to take any real blame for neglecting me, by hiding under such weak excuses."

Minato glares at him. "What do you mean?"

"Since you spoke up, dear Father, I'll start with you." Naruto walks behind Minato's chair. "You use the Hokage excuse only when it comes to me. When Mom, Arashi, Mito, or Motoko need you for something, that excuse mysteriously disappears. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, nor what day it is. When one of those four need you, you go to them. When I need you, you're busy."

Naruto walks over to the couch, where Arashi, Mito, and Motoko are sitting. "The same applies to you, Arashi. Whenever I needed you for something, you were busy with your ninja training. Whenever either of the twins needed you, you would drop whatever you were doing to go help them. It never even occurred to you that I may have needed help with my own ninja training. It's funny how my training never got in the way of helping out my own friends."

He then looks over at the twins. "Mito and Motoko, the twin heroes of Konoha, your excuse only covers the time when you're not in the house. What about the time when you're in the house? Some of it is used by your training with Mom, that is true. However, what about the rest? You prefer spending time with Arashi, as he is the 'cool brother'. Why would you want to spend time with your less important brother?"

Naruto walks over to the remaining chair in the living room, where Kushina is sitting, giving him a look of utter dread. "And finally, we come to you, Mother. Your excuse of training the twins only covers after they were old enough to be trained. What about the time before then? How about before they were born? Also, you don't spend every second of every day training them, so what about all that remaining time? You had plenty of time to spend with me, but you would find other uses for it, such as spending time with your own friends, or with one of the other members of this family."

Naruto walks back over to where he was originally standing before. "The truth is that I am not wanted here. I'm not a fool. Look at this living room. Two chairs, and a couch for three people, perfect for a family of five, not six." He gestures to the dining room. "The dining room, where five spots are set up every day, even though there are six chairs, and six members of the family. Notice how only five of the chairs are present. The sixth was broken years ago and never repaired or replaced. Someone doesn't get to eat with the rest of the family. I'll give you one guess as to who that is."

Naruto walks over to the front door. Kushina watches him, full of guilt. What makes this whole thing worse is that Naruto hasn't risen his voice once. He's been speaking the entire time with a calm voice, like he is just stating facts. She's broken out of her thoughts by Naruto speaking again. "So, I'm going to give you your wish."

Kushina jumps up in alarm. "What are you talking about?"

"You should look at my ninja records. They're more impressive than you think. Impressive enough for the Fire Daimyō to ask me to become one of his guards. I accepted. I'm leaving today."

"You can't go! You're too young!"

"Once I put on this headband, I legally became an adult. You know this as well as anyone. I don't need your blessing to go. The decision has been made."

Kushina turns to her husband. "Minato, stop him! You're the Hokage!"

Minato looks down in guilt. "There's nothing I can do, Kushina. He's already sent his reply. For me to try to stop him now would be an insult to the Daimyō, and would see me removed from the position of Hokage, unless I have a good enough reason to stop him from going. I don't have one."

Naruto shrugs. "I don't see why you're so against this, Mother. You don't want me, so I'm leaving."

"That's not true! I do want you here! Please, give me a chance to make this right!"

"You know what the sad truth is? I don't believe you. You've had fourteen years to be a mother to me, and you failed. There is nothing you can do to change that now. I'm not interested in being part of this family anymore. You have your perfect family of five." Naruto opens the door. "I've taken up too much of your precious time. Goodbye, Lord Hokage and Lady Namikaze. Thank you for giving me a place to stay for all these years, but I've dragged out your hospitality for far too long."

Naruto walks through the door and closes it behind him. Kushina stands there, frozen in shock, before falling back into the chair, sobbing. Hearing how she has failed with Naruto had broken her heart, but hearing him call her "Lady Namikaze" has shattered it completely. She doesn't even really feel Minato's arms wrap around her, as he tries to comfort her. The remaining three kids just remain sitting on the couch, each of them in different degrees of shock and guilt.

**Vanex: _And there we go. What did you all think? Let me know. And don't forget to vote in the poll. See you all next time!_**


	2. Author's Note

**Vanex: _Hello all. Well, I have to say, it was quite the response I got from this story. A lot of you had one thing to say, "Make a sequel/Make it into a full story." I want to point out that I had nothing planned beyond this, so it will be difficult. I'll think about it. If I come up with something that works, I'll go with it. If not, this will remain a one-shot._**

_**As for the poll, it's pretty much come down to four contenders. The gap between first and second places is currently a two vote gap. Second and third place is also a two vote gap. Third and fourth place is a three vote gap. The gap between fourth and fifth is a gap of nine votes, which is why fifth place and below are pretty much out of the race. Which of the top four will win? Which three stories will be the ones I focus on first? **_

_**We'll find out at 3:00 PM, USA Central Time, which is when I'll close the poll. I'll update this author's note with the results, instead of letting you all see the results on my profile, cause I like being dramatic and it drives people nuts. (Also there was a voter who meant to vote for two stories and accidentally voted for one, so I have to add in the second vote.) See you then!**_


	3. Poll Results

**Vanex: _Hello all! The results are in! Thank you to the 110 people who voted! Let's get started!_**

_**In last place, with 1 vote, is Time Hollow 2. Sorry to the person who voted for this, but you and I seem to be the only major Time Hollow fans around here.**_

_**In eighth place, with 10 votes, is F.E.A.R. - Project Lazarus. Sorry Alma, you're not going to get Naruto for some time. Okay, Alma is glaring at me now. Uh, I think I should get on with the results.**_

_**In seventh place, with 13 votes, is Yu Yu Hakusho - The Ninja and the Psychic. Sorry to the Yu Yu Hakusho fans out there, but it didn't even have a chance.**_

_**In sixth place, with 20 votes, is Harry Potter and the Snow White Queen. I pass on the same apology to the Harry Potter fans.**_

_**In fifth place, with 22 votes, is The Origins of Revan. It was in a three-way tie for third place for a while, but then it dropped.**_

_**In fourth place, with 30 votes, is Overlord Uzumaki. This one fought for the third place spot, and was even in a three-way tie for third. However, it was beaten out in the end.**_

_**Here we are, the top three. These three stories will be the ones I work on first. Remember, you were the ones who voted and made this decision. Here we go.**_

_**In third place, with 35 votes, is the rewrite for The Wandering Maelstrom. This one was actually in first place for most of the day, only losing its spot within the last few hours.**_

_**In second place, with 38 votes, is Naruto Uzumaki, Ninja of Uzushiogakure. This was the one that actually knocked The Wandering Maelstrom out of first place, and held that position until the final hour, when it was trumped by the current first place holder.**_

_**In first place, with 39 votes, is the Rise to Greatness rewrite, Rise of the Forgotten Ninja. This actually does not surprise me, considering how popular Rise to Greatness was.**_

_**So, tomorrow I will post the first chapter of Rise of the Forgotten Ninja. Either on that same day, or the day after, I will post the first chapter of Naruto Uzumaki, Ninja of Uzushiogakure. After that, it will be the first chapter of The Wandering Maelstrom. Again, thank you, everyone, for voting. See you all tomorrow!**_


End file.
